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“ NOVICE’S ” GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 
NOVICE’S 
(gleanings in Culture. 
** _o _§? 
A. I. ROOT & CO., 
EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS. 
Published Monthly, at Medina, Ohio. 
Terms: 75c. per Annum. 
A » y one tending vs 5 Subscribers can retain Toe. for 
their trouble , and in the same proportion 
for a larger number - 
IPRINTtO AT MEDINA COUNTY GAZETTE OFFICE ! 
Medina, June 1, 1S73. 
Ix our January number we gave the 
credit of the "Railroad idea” to Mr. E. B. 
Blakeslee ; it should have been E. C. 
Blakeslee, Medina, Ohio. 
At present, May 22d, both the bees and 
"Novice” are rejoicing over a yield of 
honey from apple blossoms that we have 
never before seen excelled. Some colo- 
nies have filled one story so full that we 
have given them a second one, and at this 
rate extracting will have to be the order 
in less than three days ; yet not more than 
a week ago we were feeding to prevent 
starvation. “Such is (not life, but) bee 
keeping. 
Wf. are realty fearful at the present 
date, May 28th, that “eggs for hatching” 
will only answer when mailed short dis- 
tances ; for our third piece of comb from 
Mr. McGaw has also failed to produce 
any brood although the weather was 
quite favorable during transit. As an 
experiment we have to-day placed a piece 
of comb with eggs in our bee house and 
will report just before going to press 
whether it retains vitality three days. As 
we can get no imported queens until 
Dadants first importations, we arc obliged 
to send such eggs ns we have, or forward 
the orders to Mr. McGaw. W e consider 
a queen received last fall from It. M. 
Argo, Lowell, Kentucky, our best lor 
disposition, and abundant egg laying, and 
shall send comb and eggs from her. Of 
three queens received from Mr. Cary, of 
Colerain, Mass., we succeeded in bungling 
them all out of existence finally, and 
Novice sorrowfully remarks that he fears 
he shall be a “Novice" always. 
Latest: — Eggs out of hive three days, 
all right. Temperature 50 to 80°. 
God helps those who help themselves, 
is an adage quite true in bee-keeping. In 
the spring of 180!) we lost all of our forty 
colonies by dysentery except eleven. 
'These eleven were increased to forty-sev- 
en colonies that season, for our losses on- 
ly strengthened n “dogged” determina- 
tion that we would conquer , and with the 
aid of our bee house we wintered every 
one of the forty-seven, and secured 0102 
lbs. of honey from them in 1870, which 
was sold mostly for 25c. per lb. Jl r c 
worked for this result, for the sting of 
loss in wintering was not lessened by the 
prophesies of “wise heads” that such en- 
ormous increase could not be healthy and 
and natural; but the three tons of. honey 
was both “healthy and natural,” and we 
laughed in turn at those who had talked 
“nature” versus artificial swarming. 
ROBBING. 
hfNTff'ANY complaints have been made 
L this spring about robbing and that 
even Italians not only failed to defend 
themselves at times, but allowed the in; 
vaders to carry off their honey with per- 
fect unconcern and good nature. Now we 
have prided ourselves on having liept our 
bees all honest this spring, and have told 
our friends that the fault must have been 
their own carelessness, etc. But just as 
fruit blossoms were yielding their best, it 
occurred to us that our Quinby hive 
should be brushed out and got ready for a 
new stock of bees. The hive contained 
perhaps twenty or thirty pounds of sealed 
honey, natural stores which remained 
alter a strong colony had died of dysen- 
tery in it in March; (exclusive natural 
stores as a last experiment) ; well after 
all our care and experience we forgot and 
left the entrance open, and of course we 
had robbing too. The mischief was 
stopped as soon as discovered (only a few 
hours) but not before three colonies wen- 
in turn attacked and demoralized befor.c 
wc could get them sufficiently over their 
astonishment to defend themselves from 
the ruin that they, for a wonder, seemed 
to bo entirely unaware was threatening 
them; two of the queens were found, but 
died afterward. They were caged and 
theiv hives “swapped ’ for those of the 
robbers ; this gave plenty of bees and 
stores, but we now have queen cells in- 
stead of queens, which wc think a bad 
“swap” for the first of June. Novice 
really begins to think that if things con- 
tinue thus lie will have to turn back and 
learn over again. Moral, — Be very care- 
ful how you leave combs of honey at any 
season where bees may get at them and 
thus acquire bad habits. 
